Thursday, November 24, 2011

Timlo & Sosis SOLO *my version*

Solo, the spirit of Java!

Solo, which has the official name of Surakarta, is located in Central Java, Indonesia.
This city is also known as Batik City. Exploring this city in less than 24 hours (not including sleeping at night), I found lots of interesting parts in it.
Tradition and modernism are living side-by-side in such beautiful harmony. The Solo City Goverment seems appreciating cultural art events, giving positive impact on the preservation of the traditional and unique cultures. Here, both Javanese culture and Chinese culture that are presented in Solo since early 1746, grow strong.
Click this for the calender event.

Collecting traditional markets (pasar tradisional) make us never run out of idea where to visit in Solo. From one market to the others we visited right after we arrived by train from Yogyakarta. From Pasar Legi (Legi Market) to Pasar Gede which is the biggest traditional market in Solo. From the Saturday Night Market (Pasar Malam) in Ngarsopuro in front of the famous Triwindu Antique Market to the super traditional Gawok Market in Sukaharjo. Each of them have their own uniqueness. Very interesting. Full of spirit.

Famous as Batik City, this short trip would not be completed without bringing home some batik. Oh, there are always reasons to go shopping. Love it!

So, we stop by in batik shops, in the old Kampung Batik Lawean, where there are tens of small batik shops in one big area. Going in and out of the small alleys in this batik village and back to the hotel with some shopping bags. Happy! Not done yet, we also stop by in the famous House of Danar Hadi. Another shopping bag we brought home.

One interesting part of every trip is the culinary experience. Each time we visit a new place, the only thing that I want to eat is their traditional culinary; something that unique from that place. From their varieties of traditonal snacks to beverages, from main courses to the desserts. FYI, most of us have no appetizer for traditional food. I enjoyed Es Dawet Selasih in Pasar Gede to Sate Kambing in Pasar Gawok. Yummy! Also had a great lunch in Soga restaurant in House of Danar Hadi.

I'm lucky enough that have a strong tummy. I eat everywhere, most of the time are the street food; in the market or in warung (~small traditional food stall). No stomach upset :)

One interesting experience was when we tried Timlo.Timlo is a famous soup in Solo, made from seasoned chicken liver (and gizzard), eggs and fried pastry with meat filling (Sosis Solo) that bath under delicious hot clear chicken soup.

Since our family don't eat liver, gizzard, or whatever innards, so I skip that part. Trying this dish for the first time, I thought it's not special. The sosis/sausage is a bit greasy and the soup is like other normal chicken soup. The unique of that dish is that it came from the old famous food stall, and the waiters still use a board pad and chalk to count the price. Okay, I got the experience of eating Timlo.

Back home, I was thinking to find the recipe of Timlo and make it for my family with our version. Why not?
I think the Sosis Solo will be better if it is prepared more properly; to produce ungreasy sausage with nutritious filling.

I read in some sources said that the Sosis Solo for Timlo is made of mix of eggs and flour for the skin and filled with some shredded chicken.
Learn the Timlo recipe that I got from a Femina Magazine, I thought it could be delicious and healthy. Since the recipe says for ready to use Sosis Solo, so I decided to make the Timlo and Sosis Solo from the scratch. I made Sosis Solo that normally serve for snack. Healthier and looks good.

So this is our warm Timlo serve with nutritious Sosis Solo. Very good for warming our body (and soul) during this cold November.

English :MethodHeart & Gizzard Soy Sauce -- Eggs Soy Sauce * adventurelicious *: Heat oil, stir fry onion and garlic until fragrante.Add the heart and gizzard, and cook until stiff. Add the sweet soy sauce, salt, and pepper, mix well . Pour the water, add the eggs. Cook until the water recede and all the ingredients cook. Remove from heat. Take the eggs, cut lengthwise 2 parts. Set aside.

Soup: Boil the water with chicken and scallions over low heat until chicken is cooked. Remove and set aside.Heat oil, saute onion and garlic until fragrant, remove from heat. Put it in chicken stock and stir well. Heat again stock, add salt, pepper, and soy sauce and stir well. Bring to a boil. Take the chicken, shredded coarsely.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Sekoteng for November Rain

November wasn't coming here by herself, instead she had brought her best friend; the rain.Since two weeks ago, we have to be ready with the rain that pouring the ground mostly in the afternoon until the night. The sun still shines in the morning thought, providing us a such wonderful warm morning. Don't you think it's nice?

Last week, ohhh my body couldn't handle the virus that *finally* defeated my antibody. I got flu. At that time, what I had to do was just taking plenty of rest. Then I really missed the Sekoteng seller who normally passes our home and calls us (as a favorite customer) with his unique calling noise that is generated by tapping the spoon gently to a glass bowl. ...ting...ting...ting...

Probably it would be hard for him to sell his sekoteng while rain pour the city. So, this time I decided to prepare it by myself.

*Picture of the Sekoteng seller was taken on last July 2011.

What is Sekoteng?Sekoteng is an Indonesian traditional ginger based hot drink. It is made from ginger simple syrup served with sagoo pearls (biji mutiara), palm fruits (kolang-kaling), diced breads (roti potong), peanuts (kacang tanah), and condensed milk (susu kental manis).It's sweet and warming our body during a chilly weather.For me, the power of ginger really shines to fight my cold.

How to make:1. Ginger Sauce: Cook the ginger with sugar and water until boiling and untill the aroma of ginger comes out. Continue to cook until the water is reduced to 1 litre.2. How to serve: Arrange all the ingredients (except for peanuts, sweetened condensed milk, and diced bread) in a serving bowl.3. Pour the ginger sauce, sprinkle with peanuts, diced bread, and add the sweetened condensed milk.4. Serve warm.Serves 6

Monday, November 07, 2011

Hello November.

We were entering the month of November with busy activities.I came back from our 'Yogya-Solo' trip on Sunday night (30/10), almost midnight arriving at home and on Monday morning we already started our normal routine including back to my swimming and preparing the 'Indonesian Multicultural Week' in my children's school. During that week, each class learned about one of the 33 provinces in Indonesia, ranging from the goverment, cultural, traditional food, to the tourism. Our son's class learned about Bengkulu province (in Sumatra Island), and our daughter's class learned about South Sulawesi province.

At the end of the week, we enjoyed the result of the hard working during that busy week; the performance day.

I saw that the children were so happy learning and performing the cultures, but I understand at the same time they still have lots of homework, my daughter joins the after school 'National Exam Preparation' and my son takes his taekwondo and futsal class. It must be tiring for them.Sometimes, I bring a simple surprise snack while picking them up in the school, a time of the day that they're hungry. One day I brought fresh from the oven brownies, they were still very warm on the pan... You can imagine how good the smell was inside my car, ha..ha.. They're so happy enjoying the fresh brownies in the middle of busy traffic on the way home.

Last Saturday, we decided to stay at home, starting to listen the Xmas songs, and baked this banana muffins.

There was no special plan to bake this muffin actually. It happened I found three ripe bananas in the kitchen and decided to bake something easy.Still using the same favorite muffin recipes from my mom's old 'Muffin Mania' recipe book. And... the whole family enjoyed the delicious healthy muffins, fresh from our oven. Yumm...

That's the short update from our home. Hopefully, you have a great time enjoying life, your family and your home.Have a good night!